TylerDurden_73

SHREK 2 IN IDOL MOOD
Simon Cowell featured in singing contest featurette
By Scott Hettrick 10/7/2004

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OCT. 7 | TV's biggest perceived ogre, Simon Cowell, will be joining the cinematic ogre in a special interactive version of an American Idol-like singing talent competition on the Nov. 5 DVD release of Shrek 2.

Cowell, who has already made his 2D animated debut in an episode of The Simpsons, returns in CG animation wearing his familiar black T-shirt in an elaborate bonus feature called Far, Far Away Idol, hosted by Princess Fiona. The more than eight minutes of new animation features characters from the film battling it out to be chosen the best singer by Fiona, Cowell and Shrek in an extension of the movie's conclusion, with Cowell offering his trademark putdowns.

DreamWorks' head of worldwide home entertainment Kelley Avery said the studio wanted to offer something on the DVD ($19.95 MAP) that consumers cannot experience in theaters and something worthy of the biggest animated movie and one of the top-grossing films of all-time ($439 million).

The studio also is working with retail and promotional partners to create a Far Far Away Singing Showdown event on Nov. 5, with winners announced the following week. Consumers will be able to vote for the best contestants on the DVD among nine characters from Shrek 2 and cast those votes with others online as well as print out their own scorecards, posters and photos of the contestants.

Shrek 2, expected to be the top-selling DVD of the year and perhaps the biggest of all-time, tops DreamWorks' biggest fourth-quarter lineup of releases in terms of box-office strength. The Terminal has already been announced for Nov. 23, and Collateral has been set for Dec. 14.

The studio is backing the release of Shrek 2 with its biggest marketing campaign ever, a five-month, multimillion-dollar blitz that began in August and includes exposure on more than 1.3 billion partner packages in more than 22 top brands in 12 product categories.

Other bonus features include technical production snafus, two filmmaker commentaries, featurettes, kids interactivities and never-before-released footage of Antonio Banderas and the Puss in Boots character, plus a sneak peek at the studio's upcoming animated film Madagascar.

DreamWorks also is offering a four-disc Shrek: The Story So Far gift set for less than $40 that includes the full-frame versions and bonus materials from the original Shrek and Shrek 2, the previously released DVD version of the theme park attraction short Shrek 3-D in 2D and 3D with four pairs of 3D glasses and a bonus disc featuring a featurette on the making of Far, Far Away Idol, a Puss in Boots music video and other extras.


I think I've had enough with the American Idol crossover Crap

tofu

This actually might be kind of funny. Can't wait.

Groucho

SUCK IT

PixyJunket

I thought they couldn't date stamp the movie any further than it already was.
Congrats for them proving me wrong!

roger_d

The funny thing about it is that they don't need to do this: The studio is backing the release of Shrek 2 with its biggest marketing campaign ever, a five-month, multimillion-dollar blitz. for the dvd to sell.

speedy1961

I just wish Cowell would just go away. But I hope the DVD feature makes him look ludicrous.

Hokeyboy

Actually, given how deeply the whole Shrek "concept" is enmeshed in popular culture (the original film from 3 years ago feels more dated than Pinocchio), this entire chain of events is quite apropros.

dcprules

Could be fun. I like how they do special animation specifically for the DVD. I do wish they would just give Shrek 2 a two disc treatment, instead of the whole box fiasco only including 1 and 2 in full frame.

DreamWorks, for the longest time you were my favorite DVD studio. What's going on with a full frame only box set? The Terminal and Collateral better be some incredible two disc sets, or I'm gonna be peeved.

eau

Giftset with full frame version of the movies?! WTF. I won't buy it no matter how many extras they pour into it.

Gotham_Knight

DreamWorks expects Shrek 2 to be the top selling DVD of the year and of all time?

That comes off as quite arrogant. Sure the movie was good and did a ton of business but will it outsell Finding Nemo? Or have the insanely high anticipation of other big '04 titles like the Star Wars Trilogy, Spider-Man 2, both versions of The Return Of The King, and so on?

Who knows, maybe it will do that much business. I'd be very surprised if it hit the all time number one mark. Then again, I didn't expect Finding Nemo to do the beyond incredible numbers it did.

Big Worms

I am sure it is based on the fact that the movie did extremely well at the theaters. It is 3rd on the all time list for domestic gross at $439,823,837. So yes it should have some huge sales on DVD.

DanishDVDfreak

The Terminal is supposed to be available in a Gift Box also...dont know about Collateral

I agree that DreamWorks used to be one, if not THE best studio for DVD releases, but not anymore. I hope for a 2 disc Shrek 2 also...even though I was disappointed with the extras on the first Shrek...too much kids stuff imho

Big Worms

I am not sure on the gift sets for The Terminal or Collateral. But they diffenately have confirmed a 2 disk set for both. The Terminal actually has a 3 disk Limited Edition. Both of them are going to have DTS soundtrack.

Shrek 2 looks like it is going to be a one disk at the moment.

PixyJunket

How dare they put kid's stuff on a kid's movie!

DanishDVDfreak

Touché

But look at the older DreamWorks animated movies, and even the older Disney ones...those extras are aimed more at the collector and film buff, and not filled with interactive games and the like...

I dont mind the kids stuff...its great for kids, but I would like to have seperate versions...if they can make several versions with close to the same content, they can also make versions for the collector as well as the kids

Hokeyboy

Well, remember that the DVD market back in 1999/2000 or so (when Dreamworks was releasing quality discs for Antz, Prince of Egypt, and Chicken Run) was a lot smaller than it is now. It was an emerging tech, so the earlier adopters were cinephiles, tech-heads, and the like. Most families couldn't even spell DVD back then.

Now, the DVD player has replaced the VCR. Almost every house has one. DVDs have to be designed for and marketed to the family/average consumer, not the cinephile/tech-head. Hasta solonga quality in-depth supplements, hello fluffy EPKs and useless "games".

It's a shame, but it's the nature of the beast. When Blu-Ray/HD-DVD/whatever format emerges, the pattern will repeat itself accordingly. And I will go out and get some ass.

caipirina

I just watched it ... i wonder how they account for the 8 minutes ... probably 5 minutes for the actual contest: donkey, puss, ginger with tinky, Doris (the UGLY sister), 3 blind mice, Wolf with 3 pigs and i forgot who else ..

the thing is a hoooot and tops the swamp karaoke party ...

maybe the remaining 3 minutes are accounted for all the different replies simon gives whenever you select your champion ... only a few get their thank you speech .. only the main characters ... in all other cases Simon has a silly put down line and tells everyone that HE won and starts singing "My Way" !!! that could be all in all 8 mins and is very cool indeed !!!

nightmaster

The 3rd on the all time domestic gross is still making my stomach roll.

Fok

Should be a good release, I thought the movie was way better than the first one.